I have a couple of madeleine pans and don’t put them to good use often enough. As much as I like the delicate teacakes, I find that I stick to the same recipe time after time when I make them. It’s a good recipe that you can’t go wrong with, but sometimes I need a little push to get me out of a baking rut. The holidays are a great excuse to mix up the flavors that I use when I’m making one of my regular recipes, inspiring me to reach for spices I associate with fall or winter more than summer and spring.
These Pumpkin Madeleines are a very fall version of this classic teacake. The recipe is easy to make and ideal for times when you find yourself with just a little bit of leftover pumpkin puree lying around. The cakes still have the delicate sponge cake texture that madeleines are known for, but they have a slightly moister crumb (thanks to the pumpkin) and just a touch of pumpkin pie spice. I don’t know if any coffee shops are thinking about mixing up their madeleine assortment for the holiday season, but these would pair perfectly with a pumpkin spice latte.
You need a madeleine pan to make these and I recommend that you work with a nonstick pan to make your life easier. If you are using a more traditional pan that is not nonstick, you will need to butter and flour the pan before adding your batter. The nonstick pans can be prepared with butter alone. The butter in the pan helps encourage the cakes to brown and develop a slight crispness and caramelization along the scalloped top edge of the cake, setting them apart from store-bought versions of this style of cookie. The madeleines are buttery and spicy, with just the right hint of sweetness to accent the pumpkin. While the crisp edge will only last for the first day or so, these cookies actually keep very well when stored in an airtight container and should last several days. They can also be frozen for longer storage.
If you only have one madeleine pan, don’t worry that this recipe makes more than one pan full of cakes. The pan can be cooled and rebuttered between batches, and the batter can hold at room temperature on the counter while you make one batch at a time.
Pumpkin Madeleines
2 large eggs, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
8 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
Preheat oven to 375F. Generously brush your madeleine pans with melted butter and dust with flour (unless you are using nonstick, in which case buttering is all that is necessary).
In a large bowl, beat together eggs and sugar at high speed until smooth and thick, about 2 minutes. Blend in pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, salt and vanilla at low speed. Sift flour and baking powder into the bowl and stir until batter is just combined, and no streaks of flour remain visible.
Slowly add in the melted butter, streaming it in while you stir constantly (or mix at a low speed) and it is well combined. Spoon 1 tablespoon of batter into each cavity of your prepared pan
Bake for 9-11 minutes, until cookies are golden around the edges.
Allow to cool for 3-5 minutes before removing from the pan. The pan should be cooled, regreased and floured before filling it with more batter (it is ok if the batter must be used in batches) for another batch.
Makes about 28-30.
What do you think?